


Our Summer

by ForForever42



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Fluff, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Happy Ending, Huening Kai-Centric, Light Angst, Platonic Relationships, SO MUCH FLUFF, Sad Huening Kai, camp staff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:14:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26256991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForForever42/pseuds/ForForever42
Summary: AU where the TXT boys work at a summer camp. Super fluffy with light angst and lots of cuteness and fun.
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu & Choi Soobin & Choi Yeonjun & Huening Kai & Kang Taehyun, Choi Soobin & Huening Kai
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	Our Summer

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first of a collection of loosely connected stories focused on the TXT members working at a summer camp. There will be chapters focused on OT5 and chapters focused on more specific friendships within the group. Members of BTS will make brief appearances, as will members from some other groups, but I'll only tag them if they play a major role. 
> 
> I'll put more specific tags/summaries in the beginning of each chapter, and chapter titles will give a vague idea of the subject of the chapter.
> 
> There is no update schedule. I'm writing this because sometimes the angst of my primary work is just too much and I need to write something cute and happy.
> 
> As for this first chapter--
> 
> Huening Kai's mother convinces him to take a job at a summer camp. He arrives knowing no one and is horrified at the appearance of the cabin he's supposed to live in. He wants to quit and go home. But then he meets Soobin, and everything changes.

Huening Kai stood in the doorway with his backpack and sleeping bag. He glanced at the sign above the door: MENS 1. This was where he was supposed to be. The camp director, Mr. Namjoon, had sent him and his mother up to the staff house. A young man named Jimin, head of the summer staff, had met them on the way up, and said Kai should go to the room labeled MENS 1, where there was one last empty bunk for him to set up at.

Huening Kai did not want to go in the room.

Two boys sat on a bunk near the back, playing some sort of game on their phone. One had glanced and seen Kai, but hadn’t said a word.

Kai jumped as a mouse darted across the flat grey carpet.

He could see the empty bed that was supposed to be his. In the back corner. There was some crumbled sort of food on it. Maybe it had once been a muffin. And… it was hard to tell, from this far back, but it looked like it was crawling with ants.

_No._

He couldn’t stay here.

It didn’t matter if this was the only summer job he could get. He’d just sit in his dark bedroom and play video games all summer, like he did every summer. He didn’t really need money. And the experience…

If this room was evocative of the "Camp Staff Experience," he didn’t want that, either  
.  
He set his bag full of sleeping stuff on the deck and pulled out his phone.

No signal.

His mother was speeding down the highway towards home right now, and he couldn’t even call her to come save him.

A lump formed in his throat. He bit his lip. It would be the worst, if he burst out crying and those boys in there saw him. They were probably his coworkers. Well, would have been his coworkers, if he had decided to stay here.

There had to be a reasonable solution. It’s what his mother always told him. No need to cry at all. It was time to be more independent, to grow up. He wasn’t a little kid anymore. He was fifteen: time to make his own way in the world.

Or, at least, time to make his way down the bumpy road to the camp’s front office again. He was pretty sure he could get there without getting lost, and Mr. Namjoon had seemed really nice. Surely he’d understand that Kai had changed his mind. Surely he’d have a phone that Kai could use to call his mom. She’d be back in twenty minutes, and when he was in the car, driving away from his place, then he could cry. 

He straightened his shoulders and was about to turn around when footsteps slammed onto the deck. He jumped, turning sharply.

“Hey, didn’t mean to scare you!”

The boy approaching him was so tall it was a little intimidating, but he smiled and his eyes looked nice.

“You must be new,” the boy continued. “Namjoon said I was getting one more for the Moose staff.” He paused next to Kai, and glanced into MENS 1. “There’s a full empty bunk in there,” he continued, with less enthusiasm. “It’s nice to have a whole bunk to yourself.” He looked at Kai again, and sighed. It wasn’t a frustrated sigh, more just a tired sigh. “You don’t want to go in there, do you?”

Kai shook his head. He wanted to go home.

“I’ll take you to the Extensions, then.” He walked past Kai, to a screen door off the side of the porch. The label above it said MENS 2.

Kai followed him. The tall boy held back a curtain, and Kai descended two steps into a dimly lit room.

“It’ll be a little more crowded,” the boy said, “But Taehyun doesn’t hardly use the top of his bunk, so you can sleep up there, if you wanted. If he has a fit about it, I’ll move some stuff around and you can sleep over mine. Are those the only bags you have?”

Kai nodded.

“Yeah, you’ll fit just fine. What’s your name, by the way?”

“Huening Kai,” Kai said, his voice shaking just a little bit.

“Kai, nice to meet you. I’m Soobin. So, you want to get settled in a little bit? Then we can head down for lunch before the Moose opens.”

Kai nodded.

The room got brighter the longer they were in it. It was smaller than MENS 1, and only had four bunks, instead of six. It seemed this room had been added on after the rest of the staff house had been built. The floors were wood and dirty, but he didn’t see any ants.

“Beomgyu hates spiders and pays Taehyun to sweep them out of his corner once a week,” Soobin said, “But they aren’t that bad, when you get used to them. The spiders, I mean. Tend to hang out in the showers, mostly, and they’re easy to squash in there. And if you clean up any crumbs you make, the mice will stay away.”

Soobin helped him lay his sleeping bag out on the top bunk. He didn’t bat an eye at Kai’s stuffed animal, either. The plush looked a little lonely, sitting by itself on the bed without its usual companions, but Kai’s mom had told him he shouldn’t bring any. He’d only managed to sneak one into his bag on the way out the door that morning.

“Bathroom’s over there,” Soobin said, pointing towards the back of the cabin, “And you can have the bottom dresser drawer, if you want. Beomgyu doesn’t think it’s spider-proof enough and refuses to put anything in it.”

Kai didn’t really feel like unpacking his backpack right now. Looking at everyone else’s bunks, he felt he probably had underpacked, and he didn’t want Soobin to see how unprepared he was. So he just heaved the whole thing up onto his bunk.

A quiet banging noise echoed from somewhere in the distance.

“That’s the lunch bell,” Soobin said, “If you’re ready, I’ll take you down.”

“Did I make you late?” Kai asked, his face flushing.

“Nah,” Soobin said, “We don’t get to eat until the campers are done, and it just takes a couple minutes to get down the hill. Come on. I think we get hamburgers today. You like hamburgers?”

##

Kai sat next to Soobin as he ate his lunch.

No one else liked him, he was sure of it.

He’d barely seen the others. Soobin had taken him back to the office to sign in, and Mr. Namjoon had talked to them both for a few minutes, so when they finally made it to the dining hall, the rest of the staff was rushing off to their afternoon activities.

“Am I making you late?” Kai asked, again, once the last boy—Taehyun, who was near his own age and hadn’t smiled at him—left the table.

“Nah,” Soobin said, “Felix and Lia know how to set things up. But eat quickly. I’ll want to train you a little before the shop officially opens.”

“Wait, your… our roommates… don’t work with us?”

“Nah. Yeonjun’s head lifeguard, and Beomgyu and Taehyun are part of the Adventure Team. I think they’re at the High Ropes course today.”

That was a lot of information. Kai decided just to try and remember their names.

They both scarfed down the rest of their burgers in silence. Kai followed Soobin back through the swinging door into the kitchen. All of the appliances seemed terrible oversized, and Kai wasn’t sure how many fridges and freezers there were—but it seemed like far too many.

Beyond the kitchen, Soobin led him to the left and down a dark staircase that was way too steep. Kai had to grab the railing, and was very glad Soobin didn’t look back or say anything about how slow he went.

“That door is the one we came in, remember?” Soobin said, nodding towards the door at the bottom.

The stairs hadn’t seemed nearly so steep going up.

“Back there we have freezers and stuff, with lots more ice cream. And in here…”

Soobin opened a door. Two more steps led down to a messy room, with bins of t-shirts stacked on shelves and another shelf full of boxes of candy bars.

“Storage is back here. I’m running till today, so you don’t need to know any of this. But we sell a good deal of merchandise. Jimin should have your New Staff bag ready by this evening—you’ll get a couple shirts and one of those backpacks and a water bottle. Oh, and your own radio, so you can stay in contact with us. But you won’t be alone today, so you’re fine.”

A boy and a girl Kai had never met were in the back of a long, narrow room. They were sharing a drink in a white foam cup.

“Hey, you pay for that?” Soobin called. The hall-like room was so narrow he basically pushed Kai in front of him towards them.

“I couldn’t remember how to make a mocha,” the girl said.

“Yeah, right,” Soobin said. He nudged Kai. “We get to drink training drinks.”

“And my memory is really bad,” said the boy, taking a sip of the drink.

“My turn,” Soobin said, snatching it from him. “Hmm, think you put a little too much chocolate in there, Lia.”

“Oops,” she said, giggling.

“This is Kai, by the way,” Soobin said.

“Lia,” said the girl.

“Felix,” said the boy.

The cup was in his hand.

He usually didn’t share drinks with people. But also, he’d never really had the chance to. No one had ever offered him even a taste of their coffee. But these people seemed to expect him to drink, so he did.

“It’s good,” he said, nodding. “Yeah. I like that.”

“So, where ya from, Kai?” Lia asked.

He talked to them, for a few minutes. Felix showed him how to scoop ice cream and make a shake. Lia taught him how to make a shot of espresso, and how much syrup to put in the lattes. Mostly, though, they talked.

“All right, slackers,” Soobin said, bursting back into the room with a broom and dust pan, “Time to get to work.”

##

“Is… where… ummm…” Kai trailed off, suddenly self-conscious as his four roommates all turned to him. They’d returned to the staff house after dinner and clean-up. The four were sitting on Soobin’s bunk, arguing over what movie they should watch.

“What’s up?” Soobin asked, smiling.

“Is there a place I can get ice?” Kai asked, “For my water bottle?”

“Yeah, the common room,” Taehyun said.

“Here,” Soobin continued, “I’ll show”—

But Taehyun threw his arms around Soobin’s neck, pulling him back. “Come on, hyung. He can find his way to the refrigerator. And while you’re there, get me some, too!” He tossed a plastic water bottle to Kai, and Kai caught it.

“Be back in a minute,” Kai said. He cringed at how awkward his voice sounded as he turned away.

The common room seemed to be a middle ground between MENS 1, with mice and ants, and MENS 2, with no visible bugs. There were dirty dishes piled in the sink, and dirty dishes on the counter, but no pests to be seen.

He opened the freezer. The ice trays were empty. He sighed and filled them, then filled both his and Taehyun’s water bottles with the coldest water he could get from the tap. There was something a little wrong feeling… There was no way the ice cubes from the tray would fit into Taehyun’s water bottle. They’d all been here for almost a week, so certainly Taehyun would have known that… so why had he…

No.

That line of thinking was the reason why he had no friends at home. Not everything was a plot against him.

They probably wouldn’t invite him to watch a movie with them, but that was okay. He was exhausted and his wrist ached from scooping ice cream. He could crawl in his sleeping bag and listen to music until he fell asleep.

He stepped out of the staff room and over towards the Extensions.

Muffled voices came from inside. Kai paused outside the screen door.

“Well, I wish you would have at least consulted us first,” Yeonjun said.

Kai knew he shouldn’t eavesdrop, but…

“And you put him on my bunk,” Taehyun said.

“You don’t use it,” Soobin said.

“What if he’s messy and attracts ants?” Beomgyu said, “What if he doesn’t kill the spiders and one bites me?”

“Stop being a baby,” Yeonjun said, “The main thing is, Soobin didn’t ask us first.”

“Yeah,” Taehyun said, “I signed on to stay all summer with you guys. Not with some weird kid I’ve never met.”

“He’s not”—

“Soobin. Shut up and listen to us for a minute,” Beomgyu said. “We’re four. Forever. Not five. No one wanted another roommate. Things are going to be weird.”

As quietly as he could, Kai set Taehyun’s water bottle outside the door. He crept down the steps of the deck. Where could he go? There were a couple of girls in the common room. Surely camp was still full of people. Maybe he could hide in the Moose, but…

Yes.

One of the only places that was locked, because of the money.

He looked up. Blinked back the tears. The forest was in front of him. Were there bears? Cougars? Other animals just waiting for an unsuspecting teenagers to stumble into their lair?

He decided he didn’t care. He took a stuttering breath and entered the forest.

The weeds pulled at his shoes for the first while. When he broke out of them, a spider the size of a quarter was crawling up his leg. He gasped and brushed it off, skittering to the side. By the time he caught his breath, he realized he was crying.

He hoped he was far enough away that no one would hear him. He’d walked a good five minutes, so probably. Nothing he could do about it, anyways. Not right now.

Slowly, steadily, his heart stopped racing. His shoulders relaxed. Tears stopped falling. He sniffled, and looked around.

The trees really were pretty. The setting sun filtered through them at an angle, lighting the pine needles orange and yellow. He heard a creek bubbling somewhere away to his left, and after a few steps, he saw it, rushing down the mountain, probably all the way to the river, far away below.

Part of him thought he was probably lost, but he was okay with that. He sat down on a smooth rock overlooking the creek. It seemed a perfect place to sit and think.

He didn’t blame them. Not at all. During lunch and dinner, he’d realized that the four of them—Soobin, Yeonjun, Taehyun, and Beomgyu—were longtime friends. They’d waited for this summer, to all be together in the Extensions, to all work their jobs and earn their paychecks and then spend their free time together. The four of them. Alone. It sounded amazing, really. To have a group of friends, together for the entire summer.

No one wanted an awkward outsider joining them.

He should move out. Go to the empty bunk in MENS 1. Ignore the mice and the ants and spend all his free time outside on the porch, or in the common room.

Or maybe he’d just call his mom and say he couldn’t cut it. She could come pick him up on the weekend, and he could go home and leave the others to their perfect summer. He wasn’t really needed. Felix and Lia had the drink-making side of the Moose under control. He’d been a hindrance to them, more than anything, slowing down the line with his ice cream scooping and always being in their way.

That was probably the best option.

Finish out the week, and then go home.

He’d tell Soobin that the job was too hard. He hated scooping ice cream. Sweeping was really boring. When Mr. Namjoon had offered him the job last weekend, his mom had practically forced him to take it.

He never wanted to come.

There was nothing good about this place. Not for him.

Well, except for when Soobin first found him. That had been pretty nice. How he’d seen how freaked out Kai was, and offered him a place in the Extensions. Walked him down to the camp proper, got him signed in, and had almost missed lunch for it. And, well, he’d had fun. Joking around with Lia and Felix, as they raced to fill orders and fix drinks. All sharing the leftover milkshakes when there was a quiet moment. The three dollars in tips he’d gotten as his portion from the tip jar.

That had been fine.

But, if only Soobin wanted him here… he didn’t want to be the reason that Soobin and his friends got in a fight.

Footsteps rustled through the underbrush behind him. Kai turned, half afraid that a bear was coming to eat him, but it was Soobin. There was no where to run or hide, so he just sat there.

“Yo!” Soobin said, breaking out of the weeds. He leaned against a tree across from Kai. “Nice place, isn’t it? Surprised you found it without anyone showing you.” 

“Is this your place?” Kai asked. His voice sounded scratchy from crying, and his face flushed.

“Our cabin leader showed me, my first year,” Soobin said. “I had a rough time, at first, staying with everyone. There was just no quiet. I was about ready to quit, even if Yeonjun would have hated me for it, but then our leader took me out here. Said it was a good place to go if you needed to clear your mind and catch your breath.”

Kai nodded.

“It will be dark soon,” Soobin said, “So we probably should go back to the cabin.”

Now or never. Easier to say it to just Soobin than to all of them.

“I’m quitting,” Kai said.

Soobin sighed. “No, you aren’t.”

“Yes, I am,” Kai said, his face flushing even brighter. “I hate scooping ice cream. My arm hurts. And I don’t like the woods and I didn’t want a stupid job in the first place.”

“You heard us talking, didn’t you?” Soobin asked, looking at Kai knowingly.

“You should be glad,” Kai said, “I won’t ruin your… your friend group.”

“You might,” Soobin said, “But that’s okay.”

“Huh?” How could he be okay with that? A little weird, if he was ready to throw away his long-time friendships just to help out a kid he hardly knew.

“Friend groups shouldn’t stay the same,” he said, looking down at the creek, “They can’t. I mean, I thought it was just me and Yeonjun against the world, once. Taehyun thought the same of him and Yeonjun, but the three of us became friends eventually. Beomgyu, too. We never really wanted him, but now that he is one of us, we’d never want to change that. You know?”

“I think Taehyun hates me,” Kai said.

Soobin smiled. “Taehyun’s an interesting kid. He probably does hate you right now. But if you’re as nice a kid as you seem to be, I’m sure he’ll come around.”

“And Beomgyu doesn’t want me in there, because I’ll mess everything up.”

“That’s what he thought about all of us when we first met him. He’ll get used to you.”

“And Yeonjun…” But Kai couldn’t think of what Yeonjun had against him. “I… I don’t know. But he doesn’t like me.”

Soobin rolled his eyes. “Yeonjun’s only problem is with me.”

“Because you invited me to stay in your cabin without asking him?”

“Sort of,” Soobin said. “But that’s not all. He’s mostly upset that I’m not lifeguarding with him this year. But I hate lifeguarding. I’m scared of water and I’m a terrible swimmer. I was unbelievably when Namjoon offered me the Moose management job.”

“Wait, how long have you worked at camp?” Kai asked.

“This is my third year.”

“So you worked two years as a lifeguard, even though you hated it?”

“Which is why I think you need to stick it out, even if you hate scooping ice cream,” Soobin said. “There’s a lot more to working up here than what your job is.”

Kai nodded.

They stayed quiet for another minute. The crickets chirped. An owl hooted. The creek continued to gurgle. It was all rather comforting, sitting here, in the quiet.

“Will you give it to the end of the week, at least?” Soobin asked.

“I guess,” Kai said, shrugging. “But I’ll probably go home then.”

“We’ll see,” Soobin said.

##

Kai followed Soobin down the steps into the Extensions.

“You losers pick a movie yet?” Soobin asked.

“We already finished it,” Taehyun said. He was laying on his stomach on his bed, scrolling through his phone.

“Beomgyu and Taehyun kept arguing,” Yeonjun said, “So I picked Black Panther. And we should get started.”

“Are we going to try and get the common room TV?” Soobin asked.

“Felix and Jimin are watching Supernatural again,” Beomgyu said. “So we’re stuck on your bed.”

“If you promise not to fall asleep,” Soobin said, climbing on the bed next to Yeonjun. Beomgyu joined them, and Kai stood in the middle of the room, awkwardness returning to him.

Taehyun rolled off his bed and stood up. “You gonna watch, too?” he asked Kai.

“Am I invited?” Kai asked.

Taehyun gave Kai a look. “That was the invitation. Take it or leave it.”

Kai wasn’t sure how he felt about Taehyun’s tone, but Taehyun had invited him. Soobin looked at him and smiled.

“You can sit next to me,” Beomgyu said, “So Yeonjun will be in the middle with the laptop, and we can all see.”

Kai bit the inside of his lip, then crawled across the bed and sat next to Beomgyu, leaning up against the wall of the cabin. The movie started.

And it was good.

It was fun.

Laughing and cheering and comments. Kai kept pretty quiet, but he liked the feeling of their closeness. He wasn’t quite a part of it, but just seeing it, knowing that there were kids out there who liked each other enough to want to spend the summer working together… it gave him a really good feeling.

By the end, Taehyun and Yeonjun were both asleep.

“Off the bed!” Soobin said, as the post-credit scene finished. Beomgyu and Kai slid off immediately, and without Beomgyu’s shoulder to lean on, Yeonjun fell over and snapped awake. He blinked sleepily, closed his laptop, and stumbled to his own bed. Kai was pretty sure he was asleep again before his head hit the pillow.

Kai climbed the ladder to his bunk.

“Taehyun, you too,” Soobin said, but Taehyun only moaned, wrapping his arms around Soobin.

“Please, I’m soooo comfy,” Taehyun whined. “Just let me… stay asleep…”

“But you’re awake.”

“No… ‘m not…”

Kai glanced over the edge of his bunk.

Soobin sighed. He shoved Taehyun over so he could lay down on his pillow, but made no other attempts to get the boy to leave. “Just this once,” Soobin said, “But if I’m tired and grumpy tomorrow, that’s on you.”

“I don’t work for you,” Taehyun muttered sleepily.

Soobin smiled at the younger boy curled up next to him, and pulled the blanket over them.

“Okay if I turn off the lights?” Beomgyu said. No one said no, and a moment later, blackness fell over the room.

Kai slid into his sleeping bag and hugged his stuffed animal against his chest.

In the morning, he’d tell Soobin he was going to stay.

At least for a little while.

He was pretty sure he’d never be part of their group. But this still seemed to be a pretty nice place to spend the summer.


End file.
